Gun turret and shield therefor



Dec. 13, 1949 E. w. STACEY GUN TURRET AND SHIELD THEREFOR Filed April 2, 1946 Jiwenfor I Ernesf WSiaqey Patented Dec. 13, 949

M a vb;

Lyme N e entua SHIELD was s 3 1 e I This invention relates to improvements in a gun turret and moreparticularly to "a closure for the port in a tank'turret through which agun extends.

Theusual elongated port in a tank turret, which permits the gun to be elevated through a considerable angle, is'eommonly closed inside the turret bythe rotor" on-whfch the gun-is mounted for purposes or moving it in elevation. Anadditional-"outer closure for the port may be provided by the use or a shiel'd which closely fits the"gunb'arrel and'covers' at least a part of the poiVattha-bi'itsidegif theturret. Such a shield mayb'e efiective'on guns whichare not intended to have a wide range of elevating movement. Hdweve'rfa s'hieldof such length as would cover one'hdof' the port for an'antiaircraft gun when the'gunis at the-other end of the port would interfere with adjacent parts'of the turret or tank its above mentioned position; Accordingly, the shield is commonly made so short in a mount of thiftype', particularly' be'low thefgun, that a substantial area-of the lower 'part'of the port androtor lacksany outer protection when the is gun is pointed at the *higher elevations;

Moreover; the lower" parts'of the rotor and shield usually slope downwardly toward the rear of' tl'fe tahkfandtheadjacent outer surfaces of the turret or tank body below the gun are usu- E ally sloped-downwardly toward the front of the tank to p'erm'rt the" gun'to be depressed. This relation of the rotor oi shieldand the turret results"-in the-formation of a re-entrant or pocket-like space be1ow-the;gunwhen the latter is at any substantial elevationf" These conditions increase the vulnerability of the tank at the port primarily because a shell which hits the tank within the pocket is not deflected away from the turret. If the shell strikes the rotor the latter may be immobilized by small mohr1ds--c5imetal from the shell which adhere to it or-become jammed inthe' gapbetween it-and the turret. i Inaddition, the blast from the explosion is c'onfined suflleiently -to abet its spurting, with shell fragments, into the tank through the clearance space between the turret and the rotor.

In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide an improved port closure for a gun turret, which, without impairing the freedom of movement of the gun, presents an effective shell deflecting surface, below as well as above the gun.

To this end, the illustrated port closure comnow be runner described tank 2 Claims. (01. 89-36).

prises with a shield for' closing one segmentof the port which includes the gung'a flap contiguous to the "shieldffor closing the, remaining segmentof the portfthefilap being arranged to swing "forwardly -into' an'--ufiwardlyinclinedposition as thegun is lowered in el'vationl' For substantially all positions of'th'e glun in'elevation botlift-he shield and 'thej'flap slope" upwardly to therear of theturret whereby an effective defleeting faction isafiorded f the entire closure. Assume-ream the invention, the abovementioned flap is -h1nge to the shield immediatelgbelow thefguni andfis-swungfby its engagemerit with the outside of the turret as the shield rises andrans The fiap" is thusadapted and arranged to bridge the-space below the gun; which formerly was a dangerous pocket, and yet to permit thegun to be moved ireely' -into' its lowest Theseander featu oithe invention will In the following specificatio by reference to the accompanying drawing's and will bef-d'efihed "in the claims.

' fperspective of an illustrative t irret -embodying ithe invention; and Fig. 2'i s a sec tio f "elevation of the structure shown n'Fig "lfithe sectionfbeing taken along a verti lane extending fore and aft withrethe turretlandf'fat one side of" the gun.

Gertaim usual featuresf of tank construction will first be describedfwithfireference to the drawings'which sl lowari illustrative embodiment "pf the *ihveritionin "a "closure ior a typical gun porto f a tankfturreti Gin-the upper page: the body la of the tank is rotatablyf mofr'intedia turret t2" which isfitted with awanndn ll and-'a macliihegun It. The carinonand gun ar'efcarrietf by fa rotor 58 arranged 'to' be -'swungabout a" horizontal axisfat 19, the turret-Ebeing ut away to provide a port 2 9 through-whichjthe cannon and gun extend and swing without'interf ering with the turret as theirelevation ischange'd' The ,rotor is closely fits-the inner sides-of the turret bordering on the port 20 and is itself an element of the tank's armor since it acts as an inner closure for the port. The port 20 is formed concentrically with the axis of the rotor 18 and is of such extent as to permit the cannon M and gun it to be moved in elevation from a position of depres- 'sion, a few degrees below the horizontal, to an elevation of about 60. A sloping front 22 on the turret further makes available the necessary space for depressing the cannon and gun.

The space bounded by the sides of the port 20 and the rotor l8, as well as that between the rotor and the front 22 below the cannon and gun, tend to trap the blast from an exploding shell, particularly when the cannon and gun are at a low elevation or depressed. Moreover, the rotor 18 may be immobilized by small mounds of metal from a projectile which may adhere to the rotor or become jammed in the joint between the rotor and the turret 12. Another hazard results from the spurting effect of the blast or of metal particles-usually very hot or even molten--through the clearance space between the rotor and the turret.

In order to minimize or obviate these occurrences, the illustrated port closure comprises additional elements of armor, namely, an outer shield 24 and a flap 26 which are mounted and arranged, as will presently be described, to deflect missiles striking the closure and to provide with the rotor it a zigzag clearance space between the turret and the moving parts of the closure for impeding the entry of a blast or of metal particles into the tank.

The shield 24 is connected to the rotor l8 by a short column 2'! which is cast integral with the shield and rotor and also is bored closely to receive the cannon I4 and gun l6. At times the cannon and gun will be referred to herein for convenience simply as the gun," this'term being intended to designate either or both pieces of ordnance as illustrated herein, or any other simi lar piece. The lower edge of the shield is dis- .posed just below the gun and the remainder of the shield extends upwardly concentrically with the axis of the rotor l8. The shield 24 thus covers the upper segment of the port including that area contiguous to the gun. The lateral edges of the shield are turned inwardly to form lips 28 which overlie ribs 30 extending radially outwardly from the turret along its margins at each side of the port 20.

A knuckle 32 which extends outwardly from the lower edge of the shield 24 closely fits between two other similar knuckles 33 formed along 'the upper edge of the. flap 26. A hinge pin 34 passes through all the knuckles thereby providing a pivotal mounting for the flap on the shield. The flap also is shaped with a curvature like that of the shield and has lips 36, similar to the lips 28 on the shield, which are adapted to overlie the ribs 30 when the gun is elevated.

It is now evident that the flap 26 protects the segment of the port 20 below the gun, even against fire of low trajectory, when the gun is elevated to a position as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2. Accordingly, it is unlikely that the rotor could be immobilized by fire directed below the gun while it is elevated, since the flap deflects projectiles away from the pocket mentioned above between the. rotor and the turret. Moreover, a blast and flying fragments are deterred from entering the turret through the clearance space by its zigzag coursebetween the lips 28, 36, and the ribs 30, and thence between tained at a location where the tank would be vulnerable without the iiap, particularly at low gun elevations.

With the cannon l4 and machine gun mounted somewhat above the axis of the rotor,

.as they are herein illustrated, the shield always slopes upwardly to the rear regardless of the elevation of the cannon and gun. Similarly. throughout a substantial range of elevation the entire flap has a definite upward slope to the rear. Accordingly, the whole closure effectively deflects fire away from the port and the turret under all conditions of elevation and opposing fire.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a gun mount for a tank, a turret having an arcuate section provided with an elongated port, said arcuate section also having ribs extending radially therefrom one at each side of said port, a rotor for supporting a gun arranged to project through the port, said rotor being mounted to swing concentrically with said arcuate seotion in proximity to the inner surface thereof thereby to provide an inner closure for the port, and a shield mounted on said rotor concentrically with said arcuate section outside of said turret, said shield having inwardly turned lips arranged to overlap the ribs of said arcuate section whereby a zig-zag clearance space is formed between said arcuate section, shield and rotor.

2. In combination, a turret in which a gun is mounted for rotation, said turret having an elongated port and ribs extending outwardly from and along the margins of the turret bordering on each side of the port, and a closure for the port comprising a shield and a flap hinged to said shield, said shield and flap being arranged to overlie said ribs at each side of said port and having lips disposed outside of said ribs, said lips being arranged to extend inwardly toward and into proximity to the turret.

ERNEST W. STACEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

